Carbonara Farfalle with Mushrooms and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

I have been so busy with one project in the office for the past two months, and will still be very busy until August. But I need to bake something, I need an outlet to channel my stress :). Was not really doing any baking today but definitely get the oven heated at least..hehehe.

Ingredients:

300 gm bowtie pasta (farfalle) - cook according to instructions on the package

2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
2 medium-sized portobello mushrooms (cut stems, take out gills and sliced)
4 medium-sized white button mushrooms (sliced)
3 garlics - ground
3 shallots - ground
1 tbsp flour
1 cup cream
1 cup milk
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated Mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
10 medium-sized roasted cherry tomatoes - recipe follows

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil and butter in a sauce pan or dutch oven over medium heat, saute the mushrooms for about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlics and shallots. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes.
2. Add in the flour, stir until it blended. Pour in the cream and milk at once and let it boil, occasionally stir.
3. Add in the cheeses, salt and pepper. Stir until the cheeses melted, about 2 minutes. Add in the roasted tomatoes. Turn off the heat.
4. Serve with the pasta and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top if you like....but it has already quite cheesy, isn't it?

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Halve the tomatoes and put them in one medium bowl.
3. Toss in some chopped basil, oregano, dash of salt and pepper. Add some olive oil and using your hands, just mix them all together, making sure all the herbs coated the tomatoes.
4. Arrange the tomatoes on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Seed sides up.
5. Bake them in the oven for 20 minutes. You can bake this ahead or while preparing the pasta and sauce.

Hot Tuna Pasta

 

I went to watch Iron Man 3 today on 3D Imax. Well, it was good...good closure I would I say, but not great. I definitely still love RDJ though and definitely love the first 2 films. Maybe, because this time it was not directed by Jon Favreau  who played Happy, Tony Stark's driver in the 1st and 2nd film....so I guessed it didn't connect with me, I don't know. But Guy Pearce was really bad-assed villain...I love him in this. But the human torch superpower that mimicked the Fantastic 4 guy or Cyclops of the X-Men???....what is that???  Anyway, I still love Iron Man..it's just that the closure was not even close to Deathly Hallows Part 2 or Return of The King.

 

Ingredients:
500g penne pasta
5 liter water
2 tbsp butter

1 onion - diced
1 tsp chilli powder or ground dried chilies
400g tomato/bolognaise pasta sauce
1 cup chicken stock
2 small cans of chunk/flake tuna
1 small carrot - diced
4-5 button mushrooms - sliced
1 small green pepper - diced
Salt & pepper to taste
Olive oil

Instructions:

1. Heat the water in a large pot to a boiling point. Add the pasta and butter and cook until al dente. Drain the water.
2. Put some olive oil in a sauce pan or dutch oven, saute the onion until translucent. Add the chilli and pepper.
3. Put in the pasta sauce and chicken stock, stir and let it simmer. Add the vegetable and cook for about 3 minutes.
4. Fold in the tuna and add salt to taste. Cook for another 5 minutes. Serve with the pasta and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top.

Baked Macaroni Bolognaise

We woke up around 4 am today as we need to send off my maid of 4 years back home. We reached airport around 5:20am and after saying goodbye to her, we took off from the airport around 7:15am. On the way back, we dropped by the P9 hawker center to pack some breakfast, roti canai and nasi dagang. Reached home around 8:45am and straight away eat lah! So quite full by afternoon. Just baked this for afternoon tea.

Ingredients:

250 gm macaroni - Cook them as per packet instruction and drain the water. Put aside.

200 gm minced beef

1 yellow onion - diced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 can of spaghetti sauce Prego or Kimball or whatever brands that u like

Salt & pepper to taste

1 tsp sugar

1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese

1 cup of mozarella cheese

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan or a heavy bottomed pan. 
2. Sautee the onion and stir for about a minute or until translucent. 
3. Add the beef and cook until it is brown and crumbly. 
4. Pour the whole can of sauce and fill up half of the can with water and add to the sauce. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes, stir occasionally. Put aside.

Let's bake:

1. Heat your oven 175 degrees Celsius
2. Grease you casserole with some olive oil.
3. Put the pasta, then pour the sauce and mix well. Smooth the top with the back of your spoon.
4. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese evenly on top followed by the mozarella.
5. Put it in the oven for 15 minutes and enjoy!

And the dessert Orange Chiffon Cake.

The recipe can be found here.

Baked Meatballs Pasta

Pasta is an Italian origin and a staple food for Italian. There are like so many varieties of pasta that are available in the market. There are spaghetti, the smaller ones called spaghettini, flattened ones like fettucine and linguine, tagliatelle..there are also short ones like macaroni, cannelloni, fusili, penne and lot more that we  probably couldn't find them in our country. Hmmm..I must go to Italy or Spain someday and see how pastas are being made. But regardless how many pastas are there in the market, actually the basic ingredients are all the same. Pastas are made of semolina flour, egg, salt and water. Just like our local noodle, it's just that we are using wheat flour instead of semolina.  Ok..I am not doing another thesis now, it is just my muqadimah for my next food entry. Everybody in the house like pasta, instead of the normal spaghetti bolognaise, this week we are doing Baked Meatball Pasta.

First we need to prepare our meatballs. It can be prepared ahead, put them in airtight container and freeze it. Just before using, take the meatballs out, shove them in your microwave for a few minutes to thaw..drizzle some olive oil in a pan and fry them under a low heat until slightly brown. 

Meatballs Ingredients:

500 gm mince beef or chicken

1 yellow onion - finely diced

2 cloves garlic - crushed

1 carrot - grated

1/2 cups of grated parmesan cheese

1 cups of breadcrumbs

Dash of salt and pepper

Method:

In a large bowl, mix well all the ingredients and roll into 30 balls. Cover with a cling film and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Drizzle some olive oil in a frying pan and fry them on a low heat until it slightly brown on the side or until cooked. You may not need to fry all...freeze some of them for future use.

 Baked Meatballs Pasta

Ingredients:

250 gm spaghetti or linguine or macaroni - your preference. Cook them as per packet instruction and drain the water. Put aside.

200 gm minced beef

1 yellow onion - diced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 can of spaghetti sauce Prego or Kimball or whatever brands that u like

Salt & pepper to taste

1 tsp sugar

1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese

1 cups of pizza topping cheese (a mix of mozarella, parmesan, cheddar)

Method for sauce:

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan or a heavy bottomed pan. 

2. Saute the onion and stir for about a minute or until translucent. 

3. Add the beef and cook until it is brown and crumbly. 

4. Pour the whole can of sauce and fill up half of the can with water and add to the sauce. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes, stir occasionally. Put aside.

Now let's do the baking...

1. Heat your oven 175 degrees Celsius

2. Grease you casserole with some olive oil.

3. Lay 1/2 of your pasta in your casserole, top with half of the sauce and sprinkle with the grated parmesan cheese. Next, put some meatballs on top of the layer...how many meatball? Up to you. Then put the remaining pasta, then pour the remaining sauce and cover the casserole with pizza topping cheese.

4. Put it in the oven for half an hour and enjoy!